Page 25 of Enticing Monsters

“I just can’t see another fae wanting to kill off…fae,” Tristan continues with a shrug. “If the virus gets loose, then the entire fae world as we know it will be at risk.”

“But what does the virus have to do with the man who sacrificed young girls?” I point out, and we all fall into silence as we think things through.

So many questions…and so few answers. My head actually begins to spin with the intensity of it all.

Yet again, I can’t help but feel that everything leads back to Faerie, the mythical world my parents found me in.

Which means that if I want answers, I may have to ask the two people who visited it.

Or maybe…

Maybe I’ll just need to find a way to visit myself.

CHAPTER EIGHT

SERAFINA

“You’re dead!” Caleb’s shrill screech echoes from the bathroom and down the hallway, shortly followed by the pounding of feet and Cleo’s cheerful barks.

Step one completed,I think to myself, smirking.

My bedroom door slams open, bouncing off of the wall hard enough I’m sure he’s left a dent behind. Cleo prances happily into the room and flings herself next to me where I’m lounging on my bed, sifting through a magazine. I ruffle her fur affectionately as she flops across my lap, heedless of the golden hair that’s clinging to my white leggings and neon-pink, off-the-shoulder sweater dress.

“Did you need something?” I drawl, keeping my gaze on my magazine while monitoring Caleb’s movements out of the corner of my eye.

Always be aware of where an attack may come from. And the fact that if the towel he’s wearing hits the floor, you’ll probably be scarred for life. Just ew.

Seriously, Caleb and Maddox may not be my biological brothers, but they are in every way that matters, and seeing them naked would never be on my to-do list without wanting to bleach my brain and scoop my eyes out with a cocktail fork.

“You’re seriously sick. You know that?” he hisses at me, and I let out a large yawn that Cleo happily mimics as I lift my gaze to take him in.

His blond hair is sticking up at random angles and completely coated in a layer of rainbow glitter that has fallen down to coat his face, shoulders, and even the towel he’s holding tightly around his waist. Little wisps float in the air around him, giving him a magical aura, before they settle onto the ground at his feet.

“Something itching you, Cal?” I ask, biting back the smile that wants to tug my mouth up in a manic grin.

A thud and a gasp outside my room makes Caleb whirl to where Maddox has apparently tripped over his own feet in shock at my brother’s new state, which looks like the floor of a kindergarten classroom.

“Dude…shimmer spray isn’t for everyone,” Maddox tells him seriously, his eyes sparkling and his mouth curling up in a Cheshire grin. “The key is to use it lightly.”

Caleb snarls and flips him off before turning his glare back to me. “You know as well as I do that this has Sparkle’s name written all over it.”

Maddox bursts out laughing, leaning his large frame against the doorjamb to hold himself up while strategically avoiding the cloud of shimmer Caleb is letting off.

Smart move. Glitter is one of those things that never truly goes away. You’ll find pieces of it decades later.

Even more so when it’s about a full pound of varying sizes and textures poured into a mix of glue and soap.

“Dude, I think we may need to rehome that nickname ’cause I’ve gotta tell you, I think it fits you more than her now,” Maddox continues, his smile widening to unveil bright-white teeth.

A smug grin crosses my face as I continue to pet Cleo’s velvet ears, making her wiggle in ecstasy across my lap.

“Fuck you, Madd,” Cal snarls.

“Nah, I don’t need a craft-based STD. Besides, incest isn’t my kink, and we both know I could do better than your man-whore ways.” Maddox arches a brow at me, even as Cal growls at him. “Glitter, Sera? Seriously? You know Mom is going to kill you for all of this getting on the carpet.”

I shrug a shoulder. “Not my fault the shiny one here stomped his way out of the bathroom without cleaning up. That wrath’s on him, not me.”

“How exactly was I supposed to clean up when you rigged the fucking shower?!” Caleb screams, his cheeks bright red under the layer of glitter stuck to his skin.

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